Metal artist David McCune discusses with Maryann Azzato, owner of Silver Coast Winery, his design commemorating the approaching 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. The design featuring the Twin Towers and The Pentagon is being used on commemorative bottles of merlot and chardonnay sold at the local winery. Ten percent of proceeds will go to first responders.

McCune, whose work is showcased this summer at Silver Coast Winery in the Grissettown-Longwood area, started last year at McCune Technology, his 36-year-old metals fabrication company in Fayetteville. There, where he regularly produces his large portfolio of work for both business and art, McCune fashioned a scale, laser-cut stainless steel sculpture consisting of the World Trade Center Twin Towers surrounded by The Pentagon.

McCune used the design for his trademark metal Christmas cards mailed out last year, including one he sent to winery owner Maryann Azzato, who was inspired to approach McCune about implementing the design on commemorative bottles of wine.

Silvery labels featuring the original design are now being used on commemorative blue bottles of merlot and chardonnay offered at the winery, with 10 percent of proceeds to be donated to first responders. McCune said the background of the labels actually features a photograph he took of tin, which fittingly is the traditional element used to commemorate a 10th anniversary.

Ten years ago this coming Sept. 11, McCune recalled he and his daughter, Sarah, were in Maui, Hawaii, when terrorist-directed planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York and The Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

“It was a very strange place to be, and we actually at 3 o’clock in the morning watched the second airplane go into the second tower,” he said.

“This is all to scale, so you can actually see the shapes and the size of all the different entities as it relates to the 911 project,” McCune said, showing one of his metal renditions of the design.

Azzato said one of the things that surprised her most is “when you look at the tip of The Pentagon and the World Trade Center, they’re almost exactly the same height.”

Though there’s a slight variation, when all is said and done, McCune agreed “that was sort of surprising, when I put it all in the computer it all came out to scale after I did all the calculations.”

The labels contain special quick-response (QR) matrix barcodes that can be scanned with smartphones to connect directly to a YouTube video McCune produced about the Sept. 11 commemoration.

It’s a cool story, said Azzato, holding the metal design she received last year from McCune, “because this Christmas card has become a label—‘Never Forget.’

“It’s the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and we really need to recognize that as a nation,” she said.

9/11 CEREMONY

FDNY-Carolina Retirees Association will once again conduct its annual 9/11 ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 11, in Brunswick County. The day will begin with traditional 9/11 services at St. Brendan’s Catholic Church at 8 a.m., followed by a ceremony at 10:30 a.m. at Brunswick Community College.